Replacing vista

Typhoon.

Guys how hard is it to replace vista with Xp? is it just a case of formatting my laptop and booting from the xp disk to install that?

is there anything i should be wary of? this vista drives me nuts :mad:

PogMoThoin

You sure You can get Xp drivers for your laptop? This is the usual mistake. What was Your complaint with Vista anyway?

drunkmonkey

Vista Ultimate is not so bad, i've no complaints and i've been using it since it launched...

vista basic is a pile of pants i'd agree....

Voodu Child

It depends on whether drivers are available through Windows update or not. If they're not, you may have to go trekking around the internet looking for them. And XP doesnt have sata drivers on the disk (afaik) so you'll have to slipstream your own version of XP, or have the drivers handy on a floppy. (or run in ata mode via the bios).

I wouldn't really bother unless you have a strong reason, Vista is a great OS.

Typhoon.

How will i know if my drivers are available? I have a vostro 1500 with vista business....

i want rid of it because its always causing problems when i installed a few games .. takes ages to start up some games and it crashes the games... even after i update all my drivers.

its not my graphics card thats a gefoorce 8600 GT with updated drivers

one problem i have too is i tried using my desktop keyboard when playing games but say for call of duty when i press "W" to walk forward he walks forward a few steps then stops and i have to press "W" again to go another few steps... he shouls continue on if i hold the key

PogMoThoin

Typhoon. wrote: »

How will i know if my drivers are available? I have a vostro 1500 with vista business....

i want rid of it because its always causing problems when i installed a few games .. takes ages to start up some games and it crashes the games... even after i update all my drivers.

its not my graphics card thats a gefoorce 8600 GT with updated drivers

one problem i have too is i tried using my desktop keyboard when playing games but say for call of duty when i press "W" to walk forward he walks forward a few steps then stops and i have to press "W" again to go another few steps... he shouls continue on if i hold the key

Maybe You've not got enough ram or a fast enough processor for games on Vista, how much ram have You? What processor? Have You removed or disabled the bloatware Dell install on Your laptop this could be slowing the laptop down as usual while gaming.
And as for the keyboard issue, of course that Vista's fault as always. There's nothing wrong with Vista, people use it as an excuse when they have issues.

death1234567

PogMoThoin wrote: »

There's nothing wrong with Vista, people use it as an excuse when they have issues.

Yep. Its a shame vista got such a bad rep as its a good operating system and much better than XP. Now people have the attitude that because its vista it must be ****e.

Biggins

If at all possible I would suggest hanging on till the next upgrade comes on sale.
Should before the end of the year by all accounts.
Vista sucks in so many ways but to go backwards might now at this juncture could cause more headaches than it solves.

emmerdale

Typhoon. wrote: »

How will i know if my drivers are available? I have a vostro 1500 with vista business....

i want rid of it because its always causing problems when i installed a few games .. takes ages to start up some games and it crashes the games... even after i update all my drivers.

its not my graphics card thats a gefoorce 8600 GT with updated drivers

one problem i have too is i tried using my desktop keyboard when playing games but say for call of duty when i press "W" to walk forward he walks forward a few steps then stops and i have to press "W" again to go another few steps... he shouls continue on if i hold the key

I've got a Vostro 1500 running XP - with no problems (and runs COD4). Just check the Dell website to download the drivers for xp.

here.from.day.1

As far as I know the Vostro launched with Vista and as such XP drivers are not easy to come by.

I do agree with the others that Vista isnt really the issue here and by trying to revert to XP your going to cause more problems than you solve.

Try making sure as little backround processes as possible are running while gaming. Also try setting the games graphics to low and work your way up to what runs smooth. In regard to the keyboard, try a basic one with the graphics on low and see if the problem is still there. Maybe try holding down the key harder too. Good luck.

is_that_so

Also agree with not going backwards but only on the basis of availability of drivers. I disagree on Vista, having run Vista Business for the last 12 months. It's a mess of an operating system and between the issues of file copying, the super-intrusive UAC, random "Windows is looking for a solution to this problem" and all the other little "features" one can see why Microsoft are anxious to get Windows 7 out there. Windows XP is now an old and trusted friend even if it took almost 3 Service Packs to get there.

h8red

here.from.day.1 wrote: »

As far as I know the Vostro launched with Vista and as such XP drivers are not easy to come by.

A quick check on the Dell website shows XP drivers are available for the Vostro 1500.

and

emmerdale wrote: »

I've got a Vostro 1500 running XP - with no problems (and runs COD4). Just check the Dell website to download the drivers for xp.

I'd say go for it cos Vista is a pile of shite resource hog compared to XP. Just make sure you have a copy of XP that you can activate properly.

kaizersoze

XP drivers are available for almost all Dell laptops especially the business models. Don't forget Vista Business comes with downgrade rights so you can downgrade to XP Pro legally.

You'll also need to go into the laptop BIOS and change the SATA operation mode from AHCI to ATA.

Capt'n Midnight

h8red wrote:

Just make sure you have a copy of XP that you can activate properly.

Just make sure you have a copy of XP that has a legal license
you can use Vista Business and downgrade
you move a full retail copy
you move an upgrade that has not been used to upgrade an oem copy

you could try a trial version of windows 7 for the next few months

other than that you would have to BUY a license to use a different version of windows on that PC

watty

If your Vista includes XP lincence then you can use any media.

Dell's website is excellent for drivers and support. THe Vostro usually come with XP for Business and run XP much better than Vista.

With Toshiba laptops (iwas switching toXP from VIsta) I found that drivers for a similar laptop but different model was fine.

Most Dell Laptops seem to run UBuntu well.

mp22

I have vostro 1500 supplied with xp home so there must be xp drivers available

seraphimvc

PogMoThoin wrote: »

Maybe You've not got enough ram or a fast enough processor for games on Vista, how much ram have You? What processor? Have You removed or disabled the bloatware Dell install on Your laptop this could be slowing the laptop down as usual while gaming.
And as for the keyboard issue, of course that Vista's fault as always. There's nothing wrong with Vista, people use it as an excuse when they have issues.

that is exactly why some people would prefer go back XP.in my case(poor student gets a budget laptop),Vista couldnt run warcraft3 as smooth as my XP machine,note that that is a pretty old game.while i must say i have a sh!t onboard card intel X3100 with my T8100 2.1Gz cpu(santa rosa platform),in fairness,the gaming performance is still a let down for me,couldnt even handle an old game as well as my 4 years old Xp laptop:( note that i gave it 4Gb ram too.

imo vista is asking for too high hardware requirement to work with,especially on laptop.of course btw i hope the latest montevina platform laptop has since improved to give a better gaming performance

and yes OP, a vista license is automatically cover a Xp license(in my case Vista Business anyway).i have a Xp downgrad disc comes with the laptop however i didnt try it before so i cant tell you much about the downgrade.tell us how did you go in the end!

PogMoThoin

PogMoThoin wrote: »

And as for the keyboard issue, of course that Vista's fault as always.

It could easily be. Vista and consumer IR receivers don't work well with some games. For example, when running Microsoft Train Simulator on a laptop with CIR the key mappings in the game get messed up, for example you can release the train brakes but not apply them. Disable or uninstall the infrared driver and it works fine. I've seen it with both Winbond and ITE IR drivers so I'd point the finger at the OS itself.

Typhoon.

thanks all

i had a hunch it's more complicated than just format and re-install

my graphics card is 8600 GT and i have 3gig ram.. more than enough to play call of duty united offensive.. game is yonks old

I dont remember getting any other disk than a vista one with my laptop

I have an xp disk though from my desktop

side note. is it possible that the laptop could be pre loaded with vista and xp and then dell just select which OS is to start up on boot? my partition drive is 6gig could xp and vista be harbouring in there?

BostonB

I had Vista on two laptops, one for over a year and just got fed up with it. Always having minor problems with it. Machines always seem to be pausing, running some process or other. Which sucks the battery life out of a laptop. Not the mention it constantly found rights and permission issues with files that had never had any problem on any other system. But the real problem is its just slower for no good reason.

Switched on back to XP and the other Windows 7. Both are great compared to Vista. Both are much faster and all the random pauses, permission issues are gone.

Theres nothing in Vista or Windows 7 that I need. XP is all I need.

aynon

steps to getting xp on a vostro 1500 with vista.

1. back up all relatvent info onto external hard drive or usb key.
2. goto http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?os=WW1&osl=EN&catid=-1&impid=-1&servicetag=&SystemID=VOS_N_1500&hidos=WLH&hidlang=en&TabIndex=
3. choose windows xp for the drop down menus.
4 download all relavent drivers. if not sure download all. you dont need cd/dvd drivers usually. the most important two at least to get are your network cards drivers. so at a later stage you can download the rest inside xp.
5. get your copy of xp cd. pop in cd drive. make sure that its booting from cd first. hit f12(i think it is anyway. when i restart my comp, i'll confirm) constantly as computer boots up, at the dell screen.
6. choose your cd drive, any way. a blue screen should come up. allow to load. follow on screen instructions. make sure you delete and reinstall partition. other wise your going to have a bad time.
7. after computer reboots you should be goin into an xp boot up screen and no sign of vista any where. some more installation should happen after xp boots up. again follow on screen instructions.
8. you now have xp. i know i shouldnt say this here, but make sure its either a cracked version with no key needed or you have an offical key ready. otherwise your going to have a bad time.

anything else pm me. i have a vostro 1500 that came with vista ultimate, hated it slow everything down on a 2gb memory and intel processor(cant remember the name but its one of the highest dell offers for laptops.) so i now use xp with little or no problems.

Typhoon.

Ok i got it done.. it took exactly 5 hours

heres what i done

hit f12 on start up selected boot from disk and had my xp disk in the drive..set up ran for a while then it said "cannot locate hard drive" set up ended then.

So i followed this tutorial http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows/resolving-setup-did-not-find-any-hard-disk-drives-during-windows-xp-installation/

I also deleted my partition like anon said.. and done a full format (not quick one) took 1:30hrs to format 220gb drive

xp installed no bother then

when it completed installation the computer didnt recognise any components (sound wencam etc) i tried installing the drivers i had preloaded but they didnt work

so i updated windows to service pack 2 and after the restart the computer installed the drivers for most stuff itself

thanks everyone for their help

Capt'n Midnight

Good to hear

BostonB

I'll bet you'll miss nothing from Vista. I don't.

Typhoon.

Heh heh my start up and shut downs speeds are nearly instant... and as soon as it starts up it connects to my wireless connection straight away

with vista windows loaded then it took 30 seconds before the wireless adapter started to look for my network

Vista did look nice but to hell with that... its performance i'm after

BostonB

Windows 7 is closer to XP than Vista in terms of speed, for me anyway. Still nothing in it I need over XP.